FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT OMAR MINAYA - PAGE 2

The Mets and Cubs watched in awe as Carlos Beltran let the Saturday deadline for re-signing with Houston pass. In a surprising move after daylong negotiations between the Astros and Beltran's agent Scott Boras, no deal was completed, apparently clearing the way for Beltran to go to New York. Beltran, the prize of this winter's free-agent class, can't re-sign with Houston until May 1, meaning he is all but officially gone from the team he brought to within one game of the World Series.

Omar Minaya was running the Montreal Expos the last time he spoke to Sammy Sosa. His longtime friend was trying to shake a slump and help the Cubs get into the playoffs. Minaya doesn't remember much about the conversation. "I just said, `Hey, how are you doing?"' Minaya said Wednesday. "At that time he was really focused on the pennant race. He was really wanting to produce, get them on top." As general manager of the orphaned Expos, Minaya couldn't even entertain thoughts about reuniting with the future Hall of Famer he discovered at a tryout camp in the Dominican Republic.

Although the Montreal Expos are under orders to cut payroll, it is considered unlikely they will deal either of their two most prized players, right fielder Vladimir Guerrero and right-hander Bartolo Colon. Major-league executives say Expos general manager Omar Minaya is expected to try to arrange a series of trades involving lesser-paid players during baseball's winter meetings, which begin in full Friday. Right-handed starters Javier Vazquez and Tony Armas Jr., second baseman Jose Vidro, shortstop Orlando Cabrera, catcher Michael Barrett and reliever Matt Herges are more likely to be traded than Guerrero or Colon.

Look out, Bob Gibson. You too, Sandy Koufax. Johan Santana is headed to the National League, where he is almost certain to redefine what it means for a pitcher to be dominant. In the 1990s, the Atlanta Braves' trio of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine set the standard. Randy Johnson kicked it in at the turn of the century and carried his excellence over into the new millennium for Arizona. But you really do have to go back to Gibson, maybe Koufax, to find a pitcher likely to hypnotize NL hitters the way Santana should the next few seasons for the New York Mets.

The trade talks were stalled. The Cubs had hit a wall in their efforts to unload Sammy Sosa. And the Orioles' off-season was still a fruitless disappointment. It was Jan. 12, and Orioles owner Peter Angelos greeted Cubs President Andy McPhail warmly at the baseball owners' meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. Then they sat for a private meeting. McPhail made a strong pitch: The Cubs were going to trade Sosa, no matter what, but Sosa's preference by far was to play in Baltimore. Angelos tucked it away.

Rocky Biddle wouldn't take the bait. It was a legitimate question--What's it like for such an unknown pitcher to be traded for a 20-game winner? But Biddle wasn't biting. "I didn't really think about it," Biddle said. "This came suddenly for me. I thought I was kind of a fixture with the White Sox. But I learned the business side of it. It was out of my hands. I'd like to think I came over here because the Expos wanted me. I'd like to look at it that way." Around baseball there was disbelief when it was announced Montreal was sending Bartolo Colon to the White Sox in a three-way deal that brought the Expos only Biddle, Jeff Liefer and New York Yankees discard Orlando Hernandez, who has 24 victories over the last three seasons.

The man who discovered White Sox outfielder Sammy Sosa, who literally plucked him off the streets of San Pedro de Macoris five years ago and offered him a future, knows well what weighs on the mind of the 21-year-old today. Omar Minaya knows because he put those thoughts there. Positive pressure, Minaya calls it. It is what he impresses on all the young players he signs from the Dominican Republic. "I tell them, `Look, a lot of kids want to be in your shoes.` Don`t do it for the organization; do it for them, for your family."

The Sports Xchange MLB Team Report - New York Mets - INSIDE PITCH After years of leaning on college pitching on draft day, the Mets have taken risks with high school players in two consecutive years. The latest such player was shortstop Gavin Cecchini, whom the Mets selected 12th overall out of Barbe (La.) High School. That pick came one year after the team took raw high school outfielder Brandon Nimmo, transforming the public perception of its farm system. "I'm speechless right now," Cecchini told MLB Network from Secaucus, N.J., where he was in attendance at the draft.

Given that Major League Baseball has taken charge in Montreal, it should be no surprise where Bartolo Colon was when the Expos traded for him. Even though the Indians were in Boston, Colon was back in Cleveland, having his sore ribcage examined. Figures. But despite this curious bit of timing, Colon is a low-risk addition for the Expos. He's an oversized thank-you present from MLB to Omar Minaya and Frank Robinson for making a failing franchise respectable in what will be the last of its 34 seasons in Montreal.

There is less to Miller Park than there was a month ago. To dig out from under this summer's horrific crane accident, workers have been hauling away tons of damaged steel from the stadium's retractable roof. It is a fitting analogy for the ugly process that will face the Milwaukee Brewers' next general manager. White Sox assistant Dan Evans is a leading candidate in the job search that has been under way since Sal Bando's resignation last month. The interview process is expected to end Monday when Mets assistant Omar Minaya meets with Brewers President Wendy Selig-Prieb.